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Denver Spurs
The Denver Spurs were an ice hockey team from Denver, Colorado that first competed in the Western Hockey League from 1968 to 1974; they transferred to the Central Hockey League after the WHL folded in 1974. The team competed in the World Hockey Association from 1975 until they folded in 1976. Background The Denver Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968 where they played at the Denver Coliseum. They became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72 season. After the WHL folded in 1974, the Spurs transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season. In June of 1974, Ivan Mullenix (the owner of the CHL Spurs) was awarded a "conditional" NHL franchise for the 1976-77 season. With the McNichols Sports Arena already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early and the league attempted to broker an arrangement whereby Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals (who were then under league ownership) and move them to Denver, Colorado in lieu of an expansion team. During that same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins would be sold to a Seattle group who also held a conditional franchise, which would have been named the Seattle Totems. However, the proposed arrangement fell through and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix accepted an offer from the WHA to join that league for the 1975-76 season. The Spurs were the second WHL refugee to join the WHA, following the Phoenix Roadrunners. The WHA Spurs claimed most of the players in a dispersal draft from the Chicago Cougars, who had folded in 1975 and some players from the CHL Spurs were also retained. A Sports Illustrated preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe's 28th year in major league hockey and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's." The Denver Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena. The most widely cited reason for the poor attendance was hard feelings over being spurned by the NHL because Denver-area fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising & didn't consider the WHA to be a major league. The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran player Ralph Backstrom was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at the age of 38, his career was in decline. Despite that, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the team's roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals against average (GAA). The Denver Spurs played their first regular-season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers. Before only 5,000 fans, they scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30th, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado. Rumors had abounded even before the Spurs got on the ice that the NHL was planning to move either the Seals or the Kansas City Scouts to Denver. By late December, Mullenix got word that the Scouts were in very serious discussions about moving to Denver for the following season. Knowing that he couldn't hope to compete with an NHL team, Mullenix began the process of selling the Spurs to the "Founders Club," a group of businessmen based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on New Year's Eve. Mullenix had initially begun negotiations with the Founders Club a month into the season when the first rumors cropped up of a Scouts move to Denver. Soon after he reopened the Ottawa feelers, the Founders Club insisted that he move the team to Ottawa immediately. In the middle of a road trip, Mullenix quietly moved the Spurs to Ottawa on January 2, 1976 where they were renamed the Ottawa Civics. The players reportedly only learned of the move to Ottawa when they stood on the ice in Cincinnati, Ohio (in their Denver colors) and suddenly heard O Canada being played in honor of it being the national anthem of the nation of their new "home city". Despite playing to sellout crowds at two home games in Ottawa, Mullenix and the Founders Club were unable to reach a deal & Mullenix was not willing to operate the team in Ottawa. The negotiations for the sale were called off on January 15, 1976 and the team folded for good two days later. The Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics' 41-game existence made them easily the shortest-lived franchise in WHA history & one of the shortest-lived franchises in North American professional sports history. Facts *Location: Denver, Colorado *Arena: Denver Coliseum (1968-1975); McNichols Sports Arena (1975-1976) Category:Central Hockey League teams Category:Western Hockey League teams Category:Teams in Colorado Category:World Hockey Association teams